Nightmares and Feelings
by missanna444
Summary: Reposted from my AO3 account. An AU in which everything is okay after William is born. Scully has nightmares, Monica comforts her.
1. Chapter 1

Monica always stayed in contact with Scully during cases. After William was born, Scully had gone back to teaching at Quantico, deciding that the F.B.I. was too risky with a young son at home. Even so, she was glad to provide scientific insight if Monica and Agent Doggett where on a case. The typical routine ended with Monica showing up at Scully's apartment when she got back from the case and debriefing her friend on whatever had happened. No matter how serious the details of the case, the two of them usually ended up trading random stories over a glass of wine to relax. After a year of this, Scully had learned to simply leave her spare key under the doormat for Monica, in the event that she arrived at an inconvenient time. In the event that Scully was asleep when Monica entered the apartment, the brunette would check on her quickly, then leave her to sleep and return in the morning. One particular night, that seemed to be how the routine would turn out, but it wasn't.

Scully was asleep when Monica got there, but it didn't last long. As soon as the door was opened, a loud cry could be heard from the apartment, and the cry wasn't William's. Upon hearing it, Monica's heart began to race as she sprinted to the bedroom. Had she developed feelings for Scully over the past year? Yes, she had, and the idea that Scully could possibly be in danger sent her into a frenzy.

She entered the room to see the redhead curled up tightly underneath the blankets, her face buried in a pillow. There was no one else in the room, no immediate signs of danger. Monica was confused for a moment, seeing no signs that the cry had come from the smaller woman. As she got closer, however, she could see Scully shaking beneath the covers.

"Dana…?" Monica said softly, going to Scully's side of the bed to check on her. Even with the intention to comfort her, she would never dare to get into bed with Scully without her permission. When there was no response other than sudden fearful movements, Monica determined that Scully was still asleep, having not yet escaped her nightmare. Monica knelt beside the bed and placed a gentle hand on Scully's arm. She felt the shaking suddenly stopped, now replaced by a tense stillness, as if Scully was halfway between sleep and full wakefulness. Before Monica could say more, Scully shifted and curled up even tighter, clutching her pillow as though it was a life raft.

"Don't… you can't…" the sleeping woman murmured, tears in her eyes.

"Dana, wake up, you're safe at home. William is safe. You're not alone, Dana, I'm right here." Monica always tried a gentler approach first, hoping to make the terror go away without having to wake the poor woman up. It often worked, but this time was different. Scully seemed stuck in her nightmare.

"Don't take him… Where…? No! No, let go of me!" Scully said, her words beginning as a murmur before she shouted at the end. Monica reached over to touch her, this time shaking her arm more forcefully.

"Dana, wake up! Dana, listen to me, it's just a dream and you need to wake up!" She said, louder than before. It didn't help that Scully was a heavy sleeper these days, meaning that Monica had to use a harsher and louder tone of voice than she would have preferred. There was a sudden gasp and Scully's eyes snapped open. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness rather quickly and focused on Monica's silhouetted figure next to her.

"Monica…?" She whispered before shutting her eyes tightly and dissolving into quiet sobs. Monica stood and tried to hug her, an action that was reasonably awkward with Scully in bed and Monica still half standing on the floor. Without saying anything, Scully moved over to make room for Monica. The brunette carefully climbed onto the bed next to her and wrapped her arms around Scully's shoulders to comfort her. She rubbed her back gently, comforting her as she cried.

It was half an hour before Scully finally calmed down, her head resting gently on Monica's shoulder.

"You got back later than you said you would…" She whispered, trying to divert the attention from what had just happened.

"The flight got delayed…" Monica sighed. "You had another nightmare tonight, didn't you?"

"Yes… It was like two in one this time, it was… horrible." Scully said softly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Scully shook her head. Monica remained silent, not wanting to press her too much.

"Do you want to try and get some sleep?" Monica asked after several long moments.

"Will you stay…?" Scully asked softly. The nightmares that plagued her made her more restless, and it seemed that Monica's presence was the only thing that could calm her.

"I'll stay as long as you want me too, Dana…"

Scully nodded and looked up at her friend for a moment before returning her cheek to it's place on Monica's chest. Her last thoughts before she dozed off consisted of the feeling of Monica's lips gently pressing a kiss to the top of her head and wondering if- and possibly hoping that- it could possibly mean something more than a friendly comforting kiss. It was a topic to be discussed in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Scully woke as the sun began shining through the window. She yawned and sat up, looking around her. The bed was empty beside her, but there was still an impression in the pillow where someone's head had been. After listening for a moment, she could hear someone in the kitchen trying to be quiet. She could smell coffee. As she sat up, her bedroom door opened a little and Monica appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, hey, you're awake…" She said and stepped into the room, holding two mugs in her hands. "Here, Dana, I brought you some coffee."

"Thank you…" Scully smiled softly as the drink was handed to her. She took a sip of the drink and watched as Monica pulled the chair from the desk over to the bed and sat down. She would have offered to let Monica sit next to her on the bed, but then she remembered the events from the night before and decided not to.

"Did you sleep okay?" Monica asked, obviously referring to the second half of the night, during which Scully actually did sleep.

"Yeah, I did… It was a little easier, knowing someone else was there." She replied.

"Well, I'll always be here for you, Dana… No matter what I'll always come running to you." Monica replied, with complete sincerity in her voice. Scully could feel herself blushing and took another sip of coffee to hide it.

"How did the case go?" She asked, turning the subject of the conversation away from herself.

"Oh, it turned out to not even be an X-File. Just your average serial killer."

"Did you catch the guy?"

"It turned out to be a woman, actually."

"Oh, wow. Not often you encounter that."

"Right…" Monica took a deep breath before sighing softly. "Dana, we really should talk about last night."

"Yes, I suppose you're right…" Scully agreed, looking over at her friend. "The nightmare was like a two-in-one sort of thing. Two horrible events, just replaying in my mind…"

"One of them was about William." Monica said. At Scully's surprised expression, she elaborated. "You were talking in your sleep. But what was the other part of it? From what you said in your sleep, it could've been just about anything."

"The other was about the abduction, when I was taken. I still don't remember a lot from it, but what I do remember still haunts me."

"It must've been awful… It was difficult to wake you up, more difficult than it has ever been."

"Part of me knew it was a dream… I could feel it. I could hear your voice, even. But I felt so stuck until… Your voice eventually got loud enough that it woke me." Scully told her. "It was your voice that brought me back to reality."

"Well, I'm glad it did. I couldn't stand the look of pain on your face. I hated what that nightmare was doing to you…" Monica replied, her dark eyes meeting Scully's blue ones.

A silence fell between them, neither of them speaking. Then, several moments later, Scully leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to Monica's lips. "Thank you, Monica. For everything." She said softly. A soft smile appeared on Monica's lips as she leaned over to return the kiss.

"I… I love you, Dana." She said hesitantly, almost afraid of how Scully would respond to such a confession.

"I love you, too, Monica." She went to kiss her again, but was interrupted by cries coming from the other room. "I think William's up." She chuckled and stood up.

"You go take care of him, I'll make us all some breakfast." Monica smiled and headed for the kitchen. Everything would turn out alright. She had no doubt of that.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days passed since that night, everything still very fresh and new for the two women. Neither of them was really sure exactly what to do, and they certainly didn't want to ruin what they now had. So, they took things slow.

One evening, after finally putting a particularly fussy William to bed, Scully and Monica sat on the couch. This wasn't much of a change from their normal routine, as Monica often spent time with Scully and helping her with William. As Monica looked at the woman beside her, she noticed how stressed she looked.

"Dana, you need a night out." Monica said decidedly, as if there was no arguing.

"A night out? Monica, I'm hardly awake right now, how would I survive a night out?" Scully chuckled.

"Well, Melissa watches William during the day, right? What if we pay her a little extra to watch him during the evening on Friday, too? That way, William's potential fussing won't make you too tired. I'll pick you up right from work, we'll go to dinner and a movie… I'll even let you pick the movie!" She smiled. "C'mon, Dana, what do you say?" There was a soft sigh from Scully, then a smile began to appear on her face.

"Okay, okay. But you know this means we have to tell Melissa about us, right?" Scully said, wondering if they wanted to tell her sister this soon.

"I think she'll be really supportive, Dana. She always has been." Monica replied. "Besides, we don't have to tell her immediately. This is our first date, after all. We could wait until we know that this is going to work out between us."

"What are you suggesting? What would we tell her, then? Is it believable that two friends would go to dinner and a movie together? It does sound a lot like a date." Scully pointed out.

"Well, yeah, it's believable. And when we get home, you can tell her about it, no matter if it goes well or not."

That was the plan they decided to go with. That Friday morning, Melissa came over to Scully's apartment before Scully left for work, as was always the routine on weekday mornings. Though she would never admit it, she could tell that her younger sister was going to go on some sort of date. The moment Scully had told her about the night out with Monica, Melissa just knew. She was excited for her, knowing how much she needed this.

"So, this whole thing is just two friends hanging out? That's it?" Melissa teased, trying to pry the truth out of her.

"That's it, Missy, I swear." Scully chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Have fun tonight, alright?" Melissa smiled, sitting down at the table across from William.

"I will." She smiled and walked over to kiss the top of her son's head. "Be good for Auntie Melissa, kiddo." She said before quickly moving to dodge William's applesauce covered hand. The little boy grinned at his mother, clearly proud of the mess he was already making. Scully chuckled softly and waved as she walked out the door and headed to work.

Scully managed to survive all of her classes that day, though her students could tell that she was excited about something. By the end of the day, she was all smiles, something that had become increasingly rare over the years. After the students left her last class, a soft knock sounded on the door. She looked up from putting things back in her bag to find Monica standing in the doorway.

"Hey, you're a little early." Scully smiled, walking over to greet her.

"I did say I'd pick you up from work, didn't I?" Monica smiled and shrugged. "How did it go with Melissa?"

"I get the feeling she saw right through my explanation, but I don't mind. She seemed happy that I was even getting out of the house for something other than work." She said, shouldering her bag.

"Good, because I have quite an evening planned for us."

"Oh? And what exactly does that entail?" Scully asked with her usual raised eyebrow.

"First, I made a reservation at that Italian place you love. And then, we're heading to that movie you mentioned wanting to see a few weeks ago."

"I already like you a lot, Monica, you don't have to be this romantic on the first date. You don't have to impress you." She chuckled softly.

"I know, but I want to give you a great night anyways. You spend all day teaching, then you spend the evening being an amazing mother to William. You deserve to have a little fun and time for yourself."

Scully smiled and reached over to take Monica's hand as they began walking. "Okay, I'll let you make these grand plans just this once." She giggled softly.


End file.
